UPSC Insta–DART (Daily Aptitude and Reasoning Test) 4 July 2026

Platform-based work is often presented as a new form of economic freedom. By linking workers to customers through apps, it appears to lower barriers to entry, widen earning opportunities, and allow individuals to choose when and how much they work. Yet this flexibility is not experienced uniformly. The worker may be free to log in and out, but rates, visibility, incentives, and even continued access to work are often shaped by algorithmic systems that remain opaque to those who depend on them. A driver or delivery worker may seem independent in legal form while carrying risks that were once absorbed by employers: fuel costs, idle time, fluctuating demand, and the consequences of poor ratings. In such a setting, digital intermediation does not simply remove hierarchy; it may reorganize it in less visible ways. What looks like autonomy on the surface may coexist with new forms of dependence underneath.

Which of the following conclusions is/are valid?

1. Platform-based work may combine formal flexibility with hidden forms of control.
2. Since workers can choose when to log in, platform work eliminates economic insecurity for them.

Select the answer using the code given below.

Which of the following reflect the intent of the writer in the above passage?

1. To show that the apparent autonomy of platform work may conceal new structures of dependence
2. To argue that digital labour platforms should replace all older forms of employment
3. To question whether legal independence in platform work corresponds to real economic independence

Select the answer using the code given below.

Which of the following statements reflect the logical and rational inferences that can be drawn from the passage?

1. Control in platform work may operate through systems that workers do not fully understand or influence.
2. Some risks traditionally associated with employment may be shifted from firms to workers in platform-based arrangements.
3. The absence of a conventional employer necessarily ensures that hierarchy disappears from work relations.
4. Economic dependence can persist even where workers appear free in contractual or legal terms.

Select the answer using the code given below.

If a boat’s speed in still water is a two-digit number P, and the speed of the stream is one-third of P, then:

Statement I: The boat covers 48 km downstream in less than 4 hours.
Statement II: The boat covers the same distance upstream in 6 hours.

Question: What is the speed of the boat in still water?

There are 18 seats arranged in a circular hall, numbered 1 to 18 clockwise. A marker is initially placed on Seat-1. The marker is moved clockwise.

In the first move, it advances 1 seat.
In the second move, it advances 3 seats.
In the third move, it advances 5 seats, and so on, increasing by 2 seats each time.

After how many moves (including the starting position) will the marker again be on Seat-1?